The sailing battleship Monarca/steam battleship Re Galantuomo

The first half of the nineteenth century saw major changes to the design of warships, the most important of these being the introduction of steam power. The navies of Great Britain and France were the leaders in this field, but even smaller navies such as the Neapolitan Navy introduced steam-powered warship into service.

When she was built and launched in 1850, the Monarca was the largest and most powerful ship ever built in Italy. She was armed with 84 guns, which rated her as a second-class ship-of-the-line. She was, however, already becoming obsolete because she was solely sail powered, and plans were prepared to convert her to steam power. The conversion (which reduced her armament to 64 guns) took place in 1858, but was not very successful as her first propeller proved incapable to moving her at more than 4 knots. It was later replaced, and the ship's speed under steam increased to 8 knots.

In August 1860 some of Garibaldi's troops (including two companies of the 2nd Battalion of the Sardinan Bersaglieri) attempted to capture the Monarca whilst she was moored in Castellammare harbour. The attempt failed fairly disastrously, and the Monarca remained the most important ship in the Neapolitan Navy for a further month. When the King of the Two Sicilies (Francis II) attempted to flee to the fortress of Gaeta in September 1860, the Monarca, which was now under the command of a new captain, changed sides and was incorporated into the Royal Italian Navy. She was then renamed Re Galantuomo.

The ship was not a great success in service. During a voyage to the United States in 1864 she experienced considerable difficulties with her machinery. During the Seven Weeks War of 1866 the Re Galantuomo patrolled the lower reaches of the Adriatic and did not take part in the Battle of Lissa. She was eventually taken out of service and scrapped in 1875.

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In the 1920s the Royal Italian Navy built two sail training ships. They were designed by General Lieutenant Francesco Rotundi, who based the exterior design of the Cristoforo Colombo and Amerigo Vespucci on that of the Re Galantuomo, even down to copying the very thin funnel of the original.

A side view of the Re Galantuomo.

A side view of the Amerigo Vespucci.

The Cristoforo Colombo was handed over to the Russian Navy at the end of the Second World War but the Amerigo Vespucci still remains in service with the Italian Navy.